Flu and Flu Vaccine/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby MOBY: Beep. Tim and Moby are in their home. Moby is agitated. He grabs Tim by his shoulder and tries to pull him somewhere. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Hey, slow down a sec. MOBY: Beep. TIM: What's the panic all about? MOBY: Beep. TIM: You're rushing to get a flu shot? Moby nods and continues pulling Tim's shoulder. MOBY: Beep. TIM: All right, let's just calm down and breathe deep. There is a moment of silence. Moby stares at Tim, an unhappy look on his face. TIM: Oh, right. You don't breathe. Well, calm down, anyway. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, What is the flu? Will I get sick if I don't get a flu shot? From, Ellie. Most of us have had the flu at one time or another. For the average healthy person, it's really more of a nuisance than anything. Flu is actually short for influenza. Moby holds up a picture of Tim in bed with the flu. Tim has a fever, is sweating, and has a thermometer in his mouth. TIM: It's a respiratory illness caused by the influenza viruses. An animation represents influenza viruses. TIM: The flu can cause fevers, tiredness, aches, stuffy noses, and upset stomachs, as well as sore throat, vomiting, and diarrhea. Animations show a person with a fever, a sleeping person, an aching elbow, a running nose, and an upset stomach. TIM: And it tends to spread around in the winter, because influenza viruses are really contagious, and people tend to spend more time cooped up indoors. Also, the lower humidity can dry out your nasal passages, making them more susceptible to infection. An animation shows people standing inside a building while outside it snows. The people are coughing and sniffing, creating a cloud of germs. TIM: Anyway, the flu these days isn't usually serious. You feel sick for a few days or maybe a week. But that wasn't always the case. Before medicine was advanced enough to control it, flu epidemics wiped out entire populations. An animation shows several people in rows. One by one, and quickly, they all vanish. TIM: The worst one happened in 1918 when an outbreak of the Spanish flu killed as many as one hundred million people worldwide. An image shows a nurse tending to flu patients, who are lying in bed. Moby wrings his hands and looks concerned. TIM: You don't have to be scared: These days doctors develop a flu vaccine each year to prevent another outbreak, and we're also a lot healthier than people were back then. Moby looks relieved. MOBY: Beep. TIM: A vaccine contains viruses that have either been killed or severely weakened. An animation shows a syringe administering a vaccine. TIM: When the vaccine gets inside of you, it causes your immune system to build antibodies to the flu virus. So, when the real flu comes along, you already have antibodies to fight it off. An animation illustrates the formation of antibodies inside a person's body. Then the flu invades, and the antibodies attack it. TIM: Like I said, for most of us, the flu is more of a nuisance than anything. We get sick, and then we get better. But for people with weakened immune systems, the flu can hit really hard. That's why doctors usually recommend vaccinating babies, the elderly, expectant mothers, and people who are already sick with something else. Images show a baby, an elderly woman, a pregnant woman, and a young man sick in bed. TIM: People who are vaccinated can still get the flu. MOBY: Beep. Moby looks worried. TIM: Well, there are different strains, or versions, of the virus, each with a different genetic makeup. Each year, a few strains become more prominent than the others. An animation represents different types of flu virus with different shapes. One type of virus increases in number until it is the only type visible. TIM: Doctors and scientists work to anticipate which strains of flu will rear their ugly heads. An image shows three scientists doing research in a laboratory. TIM: The flu vaccines developed for a particular year immunize people against those three flu strains. So, if you get hit with a different strain… An animation shows four types of flu virus. Three of them are covered by no symbols. MOBY: Beep. Moby looks nervous. TIM: Well, they usually do a pretty good job guessing. MOBY: Beep. Moby rubs his shoulder. TIM: Yeah, who does? If you're one of those people who doesn't like needles, doctors have figured out a way to offer the vaccine as a nasal spray. An image shows a nasal spray pump. MOBY: Beep. Moby points to where his nose would be if he had one. TIM: Oh, right. MOBY: Beep. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts